1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a server unit, a client unit, and a recording medium in a server-based computing system (SBC) which enables an application input to, output from, or displayed on a client unit to operate on a server unit in a server-client system connected via a network, such as a LAN (Local Area Network).
2. Description of the Related Art
Each terminal unit (i.e., a PC terminal) connected to a network, such as an in-house LAN, activates and executes an application, such as a document preparation program or a table creation program, independently. The resulting various files have been stored in a storage unit at the terminal unit. Alternatively, the terminal unit stores the various files in an external storage medium, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or a small semiconductor memory, or in a storage unit managed by a server unit on a network.
With such a conventional server-client system, the created files are managed by each terminal unit. Therefore, if the terminal unit should be lost or taken out illegally and passed into a third party's hands, the saved files might be read and important or confidential information be leaked.
Furthermore, since each terminal unit runs an application independently, the application has to be updated, changed, or added on a terminal unit basis, resulting in complex management and an increase in the cost.
To overcome the above problems, a recent server-client system has introduced an SBC (Server-Based Computing) system which causes all the applications input to, output from, and displayed on each terminal to be run on a server unit and all the created files to be managed on a server.
In such a server-based computing system, the drawing data of the application run on the server unit is transferred to a terminal unit (or a client unit). The client unit then displays the drawing data.
Recently, even in a server-based computing system, a mobile terminal with a small display screen, such as a mobile phone, has been considered to be used as a client unit.
With the conventional server-based computing system, when a mobile terminal with a small display screen is used as a client unit, the area of the drawing data displayed on the display screen of the mobile terminal is a part of the original area, since the display screen data (or drawing data) has been normally created so as to correspond to the screen size of a PC terminal. Therefore, each time the area of the drawing data the user wants to look at is not displayed, the user has to, for example, scroll the screen to change the display area.
Particularly, when a list box or a text box existing on the drawing data is to be operated frequently, a problem arises: it is very complicated to display the object area neatly to fit the display area.